1. Through research and team brainstorming, define characteristics observable from Earth orbit that reveal efforts to dominate or conquer other states. These may include:
   • Detection of construction along disputed borders
   • Changes to shared natural resources (such as damming a river)
   • The massing or movement of armed forces
   • Population movement in response to intimidation or violence.
   Recognize that these characteristics may sometimes serve as the first warning of impending problems but will more often confirm or contradict reports from the ground.
2. Research the fundamentals of earth observation including:
   • Orbits and their specific uses (e.g., sun-synchronous orbits that ensure the surface is illuminated by the sun at the same angle during every “pass” over the site)
   • The resolutions currently captured by EO satellites and what they are capable of capturing
   • The typical applications for optical, synthetic aperture radar and hyperspectral imaging in EO.
3. Research the fundamentals of data analytics of EO images and the challenges of machine interpretation of optical and other images of the same location over multiple passes. The goal is not to become an expert in AI image analysis but to be able, in the report, to discuss the current state of the art and its ability or inability to detect the characteristics required.
4. Research existing EO constellations and use this information to develop the design for a low-cost imaging satellite operating in LEO that is capable of capturing images of sufficient resolution to detect the required characteristics.
5. Define a constellation of such satellites, their total number and orbits required to provide global coverage and suitable revisit rate.
6. Based on information on current launch vehicles and their capacity – SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Vega, etc. – estimate the number of launches required to put the constellation in orbit and a probably cadence of such launches.
7. Define the ground stations required for data download, edge processing and transmission to a central site based on the availability of ground-segment-as-a-service providers such as Atlas Space, KSAT, neXAT, RBC Signals, CM Technology and Swedish Space Corporation.

Teams must be comprised entirely of students at one university. Teams will be limited to one per university, and team candidacy must be submitted through that university's SEDS chapter. We recommend between 3 and 10 members per team, but we encourage team leadership to include as many interested chapter members as possible. Individual team members must maintain student status at the university naming the team and may only contribute to one project at a time.

Since this is a student project, SSPI and SEDS expect student team members to do the vast majority of the work. Mentors are assigned to assist teams with overcoming the learning curve, but should not do substantial work on the project.